ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. – It’s an issue South Carolinians are all too familiar with: fixing the state’s roads and how to pay for it.

“You can tell the difference when you go into Georgia or North Carolina,” said Anderson County resident Diane Ownbey. “To be perfectly honest – I don’t know where the money should come from. But I do know we need the roads fixed.”

Anderson County leaders will vote on a proposal to start a new fee on drivers. It would mean $30 every year towards roads maintained by the county.

The fee breaks up into two parts, including $5 for cleaning up roadside litter.

“When you’re trying to bring major economic development projects in, they see how clean or not clean a community is,” said Deputy Administrator Holt Hopkins.

Hopkins said the remaining $25 would be set aside in a special paving account. When multiplied by the county’s roughly 180,000 vehicles, that’s more than $4 million per year.

“If it’s going to the roads and not have so many potholes to hit everyday, it should be well worth it,” said resident Allen Hiott.

Hopkins said right now the county does not have enough coming from the state or its general fund to properly maintain its roads.

“The idea is to try to pave these roads prior to them falling a part because you can do it a lot cheaper,” said Hopkins.

The fee is being proposed by Councilman J. Mitchell Cole. Tuesday’s council meeting starts 6:30 p.m. If the ordinance passes all three readings, Hopkins said residents would start paying the fee next year.